The last election in which the Democratic candidate was more conservative?

[Scam of God]

Or, alternatively, the Republican was more liberal?

I'd be quite fine with saying 1976.

[Alexander Hamilton]

2004

[President Mitt]

1992

[Reaganfan]

1948

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

Last time when Democrats nominate a confirmed conservative was in 1928, but there were no difference between Coolidge and Davis

I'd say 1976

2004

LOL!

[Хahar 🤔]

In 1960, the Democratic ticket was definitely to the right of the Republican ticket.

[Alexander Hamilton]

2004

LOL!

I'm being dead serious.

[Robespierre's Jaw]

In 1960, the Democratic ticket was definitely to the right of the Republican ticket.

[ChrisJG777]

2004

LOL!

I'm being dead serious.

Please elaborate.

[Swedish Rainbow Capitalist Cheese]

2004

LOL!

I'm being dead serious.

Please elaborate.

I'm also curious to know  in what manner John Kerry is more conservative than George Bush.

[KuntaKinte]

1948

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

2004

LOL!

I'm being dead serious.

Please elaborate.

I'm also curious to know  in what manner John Kerry is more conservative than George Bush.

Er, yes... can someone explain that?

[Filuwaúrdjan]

It depends how the terms are defined. As things would have been seen at the time, then you have to go back a long way. 1924 is tempting but I would argue that both major party candidates were conservatives (different types, though), so maybe 1916. But the last time it was clear would be 1904.

Now if we're using contemporary ways of looking at things, that might differ.

[minionofmidas]

Not 1976. Jimmy Carter may have been a religious, but a conservative he was never. Ford was the kind of Republican they're actively unmaking nowadays, of course, but still clearly an establishment conservative.

Not 1960. LBJ's position on the left of the old Southern Democrats is even more clearcut than Carter's. Kennedy sure had some Conservative baggage, but it's not as if Nixon was ever a Liberal Republican either. If Kennedy had ever run against Eisenhower, you might conceivably have a case. Yeah sure, the Reps had a civil rights plank in their platform in 1960 - the prize for an unanimous nomination when everybody knew Nixon would win a vote against Rockefeller but by an unimpressive and possibly by an embarassingly small margin. So?

The latest you could conceivably make a case for - the last time that it wasn't all that clearcut -  is Eisenhower vs Stevenson

Although I would go with 1904. Certainly that was the last time this was *clearly* the case. 1928 is the most obvious alternative, though really only from an expost point of view.

[Antonio the Sixth]

1904

[RI]

2004

LOL!

I'm being dead serious.

Please elaborate.

I'm also curious to know  in what manner John Kerry is more conservative than George Bush.

Well...by old definitions, Kerry was more conservative foreign policy wise, while Bush was certainly liberal in that regard.

[Badger]

Not 1976. Jimmy Carter may have been a religious, but a conservative he was never. Ford was the kind of Republican they're actively unmaking nowadays, of course, but still clearly an establishment conservative.

Not 1960. LBJ's position on the left of the old Southern Democrats is even more clearcut than Carter's. Kennedy sure had some Conservative baggage, but it's not as if Nixon was ever a Liberal Republican either.

Yep

1904

Correct

[CJK]

1992

[Vepres]

2004

LOL!

I'm being dead serious.

Please elaborate.

I'm also curious to know  in what manner John Kerry is more conservative than George Bush.

Well...by old definitions, Kerry was more conservative foreign policy wise, while Bush was certainly liberal in that regard.

One could also say that Kerry had the potential to be more fiscally responsible than Bush, but we can't know.

[Хahar 🤔]

Not 1960. LBJ's position on the left of the old Southern Democrats is even more clearcut than Carter's. Kennedy sure had some Conservative baggage, but it's not as if Nixon was ever a Liberal Republican either. If Kennedy had ever run against Eisenhower, you might conceivably have a case. Yeah sure, the Reps had a civil rights plank in their platform in 1960 - the prize for an unanimous nomination when everybody knew Nixon would win a vote against Rockefeller but by an unimpressive and possibly by an embarassingly small margin. So?

LBJ was on the left of the Southern Democrats, sure, but he still voted with them. He was no Claude Pepper; he was just on the right, rather than the far right. Certainly, he was well to the right of Lodge.

Joe Kennedy, on the other hand, was hard right, and it ought to be remembered that the Kennedys were McCarthyists. Walter Reuther didn't like them, and for good reason. Nixon, while not a liberal by any means, was certainly supportive of civil rights as Vice President. As I recall, he tried to pull a gambit to end the filibuster while presiding over the Senate.

[Kaine for Senate '18]

Johnson was without a doubt the most liberal Southern Senator in 1960.  The only others who even occasionally voted liberally on domestic issues were Ralph Yarborough, Lister Hill, Al Gore, and Estes Kefauver.

[Хahar 🤔]

Johnson was without a doubt the most liberal Southern Senator in 1960.  The only others who even occasionally voted liberally on domestic issues were Ralph Yarborough, Lister Hill, Al Gore, and Estes Kefauver.

Gore and Kefauver were both to Johnson's left.

[Kaine for Senate '18]

Gore and Kefauver were both to Johnson's left.

They were more outspoken, but ultimately not ideologically to Johnson's left.

[Alexander Hamilton]

2004

LOL!

I'm being dead serious.

Please elaborate.

I'm also curious to know  in what manner John Kerry is more conservative than George Bush.

Well...by old definitions, Kerry was more conservative foreign policy wise, while Bush was certainly liberal in that regard.

One could also say that Kerry had the potential to be more fiscally responsible than Bush, but we can't know.

Both of these are what I was getting at.

[Deldem]

Johnson was without a doubt the most liberal Southern Senator in 1960.  The only others who even occasionally voted liberally on domestic issues were Ralph Yarborough, Lister Hill, Al Gore, and Estes Kefauver.

Ralph Yarborough was on LBJ's left, though not by much.

Not 1960. LBJ's position on the left of the old Southern Democrats is even more clearcut than Carter's. Kennedy sure had some Conservative baggage, but it's not as if Nixon was ever a Liberal Republican either. If Kennedy had ever run against Eisenhower, you might conceivably have a case. Yeah sure, the Reps had a civil rights plank in their platform in 1960 - the prize for an unanimous nomination when everybody knew Nixon would win a vote against Rockefeller but by an unimpressive and possibly by an embarassingly small margin. So?

LBJ was on the left of the Southern Democrats, sure, but he still voted with them. He was no Claude Pepper; he was just on the right, rather than the far right. Certainly, he was well to the right of Lodge.

Joe Kennedy, on the other hand, was hard right, and it ought to be remembered that the Kennedys were McCarthyists. Walter Reuther didn't like them, and for good reason. Nixon, while not a liberal by any means, was certainly supportive of civil rights as Vice President. As I recall, he tried to pull a gambit to end the filibuster while presiding over the Senate.

John Kennedy was definitely not a conservative. Remember, it was primarily his father that was the McCarthyist. While not an eager civil rights guy, JFK was somewhat supportive and his brother made it a big issue in his time as Attorney General. And his social policies were definitely more on the left. And there's the fact that he's one of the last politicians to proudly take up the label of the liberal.

If Nixon is so supportive of civil rights, explain his totally shameless use of the Southern Strategy in 1968 and 1972 to me. I'll be damned if he wasn't trying to get up his racist white southern appeal there.

Please, enlighten me on how LBJ was conservative (excluding Vietnam, which honestly was not consistently opposed by the Democratic Party as a whole until after LBJ was gone) Last time I checked, he was the reason Civil Rights passed and that Medicare was created. I guess that whole Great Society thing totally reeks of conservative philosophy, right?

To answer the topic's question, I'd say 1904. Though it's worth noting that in 1912, TR was more liberal than Wilson, and he was the second place finisher in that election, rather than Republican nominee Taft.